Quickly, the three had no more time to ponder this matter. Nie Kong’s initial strike landed, his movements showing no pause as a scroll shot out from before him.

In a flash, it unfurled to become a vast panorama, enveloping the void spanning several hundred meters above the three figures. The depiction showed raging torrents and towering waves, like an ocean whipped into a frenzy by a hurricane.

“Immortal Zither Sea Chart!” The three immediately recognized the talismans weapon Nie Kong was using, and their expressions shifted instantly. That “Immortal Zither Sea Chart” was a sacred artifact of the Sea Clan, placed in the Deep Sea Abyss by the Sea Dragon Divine Venerable long ago to guard the Immortal Zither Divine Palace.

How could this person have obtained it? With the Sea Clan’s sacred artifact in hand, and Nie Kong already a Third Grade Spirit God, killing him might prove exceedingly difficult.

Following Li Yu’s ambush, the true strength of Nie Kong being revealed, and the appearance of the “Immortal Zither Sea Chart,” the three for the first time lost their initial confidence in this assignment. “Boom!” Misty white ocean waves burst forth, cascading down from the high heavens.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Whoosh! Fierce whistling sounds reverberated violently.

At almost the same moment, immense phantom figures rushed out from within the bodies of the three: a massive fire lion dozens of meters long, a door-panel sized black sword, and a towering emerald tree. These were the Dharma Aspects they cultivated.

The furious lion opened its gaping maw, unleashing boundless flames. The void within a hundred-meter radius was instantly illuminated crimson like blood, and a scorching aura spread out, as if transforming the heaven and earth into a roaring furnace.

The void actually began to crackle with snapping sounds. The black sword stabbed straight toward the firmament, and a torrent of pitch-black sword energy surged outward from its tip.

In an instant, it carved a fissure several hundred meters long in the void, as if intending to tear the Sea Chart above in two. The giant tree rustled loudly, its thick branches extending diagonally, looking for all the world like a massive, unfurled parasol, radiating an aura of verdant green.

The Fire Lion roared! The Black Sword ripped the sky!

The Great Tree swayed! The combined might of the three Dharma Aspects pushed back against the cascade of sea waves pouring down from above, forcing the white tide to actually roll back toward the “Immortal Zither Sea Chart.” “Buzz!” The Sea Chart vibrated violently.

Nie Kong’s eyes narrowed slightly. Among the four Spirit God avatars he encountered, the one named Li Yu was the strongest, and he had successfully ambushed him.

Even if he didn’t die, it was unlikely he could cause much trouble again. The remaining three were slightly weaker in cultivation, but considerably stronger than those Sea Clan Spirit Gods.

It was evident that the Dan Immortal Sect and the Grandmist Heavenly Palace of the Supreme Spirit Realm valued Nie Kong and Tai Yan more than the Sea Clan. After all, before entering the Immortal Zither Sea, Nie Kong and his party had consecutively eliminated Zhuang Yu, Yuan Ru, and Marquis Wu—three newly ascended Spirit Gods—and even the current Sect Master of the Dan Immortal Sect had not escaped.

Although the Spirit God avatars descended by the Dan Immortal Sect and the Grandmist Heavenly Palace were one person short of the Sea Clan, their overall strength was at least two tiers higher. If he hadn't absorbed and refined the avatars of the four Sea Clan Spirit Gods in the Immortal Zither Divine Palace, greatly boosting his strength, Nie Kong’s first move upon sensing their presence would not have been a surprise attack, but rather immediately using his Chaos Divine Power to conceal the auras of Tai Yan and Yu Longyue, choosing to evade temporarily.

However, even after dealing with the strongest, Li Yu, Nie Kong did not expect to eliminate the remaining three Spirit God avatars with a single use of the Immortal Zither Sea Chart. “Swish!” Nie Kong’s figure abruptly appeared directly above the Sea Chart.

With his Crimson Star War Body manifesting, his nearly hundred-meter-tall physique plummeted, his feet landing precisely on two of the most vital array points within the Sea Chart’s illusory formation. Chaos Divine Power surged out from his feet like a collapsing dam.

In the next moment, the violently trembling “Immortal Zither Sea Chart” immediately stabilized. Whoosh!

The immense power contained within the Nine-Layered War Body, coupled with the vast Chaos Divine Power, instantly doubled the intensity of the tidal waves pouring out of the Sea Chart. The offensive from the three Spirit Gods’ Dharma Aspects staggered, their figures forcibly driven downward by several hundred meters simultaneously.

“Crimson Star War Body! Remnant of the Crimson Star Clan?” Sensing the terrifying figure on the Sea Chart, the three were profoundly shaken, suddenly realizing that the one who attacked Li Yu before was very likely the legendary “War God Star Seal”!

Although that War God Star Seal was not condensed solely from the divine power unique to the Crimson Star Clan, its method of attack was identical. He is actually a remnant of the Crimson Star Clan?

It was rumored he came from that other continent, the Heavenly Spirit Continent. Could there still be members of the Crimson Star Clan on that continent?

Or perhaps he traveled from the “Outer Heaven” of the Supreme Spirit Realm to the Heavenly Spirit Continent, and then somehow arrived in the Divine Void Realm from there? Such a possibility was not out of the question.

Although they had never witnessed the great war from ten thousand years ago, they knew the might of the “Crimson Star War Body” and the “War God Star Seal,” and their confidence plummeted once more. Furthermore, they now noticed that the Flower Spirit and the Sea Clan Spirit God were returning from over ten li away, and would reach them shortly.

That Flower Spirit was a Second Grade Spirit God, extremely close to the Third Grade; the other also possessed the strength of a Second Grade Spirit God, though newly ascended and with an unstable realm. Although their avatars were all Third Grade Spirit Gods, if suppressed by the “Immortal Zither Sea Chart,” even Second Grade Spirit Gods could end their lives.

“Mo He, Liu Hong, break out of the Sea Chart!” The green-robed man among the three suddenly roared. The Great Tree Dharma Aspect expanded several times over again, and the verdant canopy woven from branches and leaves began to spin wildly, generating a fierce gale that swept outward from the tree, managing to completely hold back the offensive of the “Immortal Zither Sea Chart.” “Ban Yao, be careful!” The situation was urgent, and the woman named Mo He and the young man Liu Hong knew this was no time for courtesy.

They simultaneously urged their Dharma Aspects to charge left and right. Mo He danced her hands rapidly, sword energy piercing the void.

Her body followed the sword’s movement, and in an instant, she shot out thousands of meters like a shooting star. However, when her figure reappeared, her face was quite pale; the action just now had depleted a great deal of her divine power.

Liu Hong was not so fortunate. Just as his body, merged with the Fire Lion, reached the edge of the area covered by the “Immortal Zither Sea Chart,” nine “War God Star Seals” slammed down in overlapping layers.

Another “Nine-Layered Seal”! “Roar!” The Fire Lion roared furiously and suddenly burst into a ball of intense fire, colliding fiercely with the “War God Star Seals.” Boom!

The explosion was deafening. Liu Hong’s figure shot out from the scattered sparks, fleeing hundreds of meters away in a sorry state before halting.

His expression was somewhat withered; both his arms had vanished. Fortunately, the bodies of Spirit God avatars were condensed from divine power, and with a mere thought from Liu Hong, two new arms regrew.

Without the assistance of Mo He and Liu Hong, the green-robed man named Ban Yao looked somewhat overmatched beneath the Immortal Zither Sea Chart. “Whoosh!” The tide struck again, and the giant, umbrella-like shadow of the tree began to sink rapidly.

“Nie Kong, perish!” Seeing this, Liu Hong could not spare the breath to recover. The Fire Lion Dharma Aspect rushed out of his body once more, roaring toward Nie Kong upon the Sea Chart.

Mo He’s attack did not cease either; almost the moment she stabilized her form, she reversed her great sword, its pitch-black sword energy continuously tearing the void as it stabbed toward Nie Kong’s back. …… ……